Chris Reilly New Flight Products, Projects

Creating the CGI Music Video for Adhesive Wombat’s “Storm Crusher”

Recently, I had the opportunity to produce a CGI/visual effects-based music video for AdhesiveWombat, an electronic music creator on SoundCloud, YouTube and the like. If you’re into tech, you may even know him as the producer of the “theme song” for Linus Tech Tips’s “WAN Show“. Well, that “theme song”, AKA “Storm Crusher”, got an animated, VFX music video addition this summer! Using a suite of 3D software and compositing tools, I put together a VFX adventure for this track with the help of some live action footage, photorealistic raytracing, and particle simulations! If you haven’t see it yet, check it out!

Adhesive Wombat’s “Storm Crusher”

This video involved many production and post production processes, but I’d like to highlight a few. For this video to work, you’ll notice that the music needed to “drive” the animation in some parts. I used a script to convert certain frequencies from the sound track (typically between 0 and 4 KHz), into usable animation data that could be manicured, amplified, and turned into pulsations, movement, and force field data for particle animations.

Here, you can see the pulsating orb and its particles from the beginning, alongside a graph visualization displaying several parameters driven by the sound from the music. You’ll also notice the music track along the top of the viewport… super useful when you want to match the movements up just right! Here’s another example of the orb, along with its graph view (showing several channels of displacement data driven by sound):

To complete this video, I needed to use “projection mapping”. That is, I needed to partially reconstruct some environments in 3D, and project imagery onto them in order to ensure that the 3D objects in the scene would conform to the lighting situation when the video was shot. Here’s an example of partially re-projecting a building onto a rough box model:

This allows for so many possibilities. Water, for example (of which there is a lot in this video), has a refractive index (the extent to which light is bent when it passes through the object). This means that material needs to be present behind the object so that there is something to “see” through the water when the light gets bent through it. Using this technique, I can recreate real world lighting conditions (with the help of an HDRI backdrop).

Here, you can see how this is accomplished… a mesh’s geometry is “projected” from the tracked camera’s point of view, and the imagery in that scene is applied. This allows me to make actual “chunks” of the parking lot rip apart!

Finally, I’d like to discuss those clouds. The clouds were produced procedurally using dynamic noise mixed with a black/white 3D mask to “guide” the clouds to where they needed to appear (the mask was animated to “steer” the clouds to different areas). You can see how the clouds only appear in a small area, although the mesh is much larger:

These clouds used volumetric materials, meaning that what you see is a subset of the mesh’s volume, rather than its surface. Raytracing render engines are needed to accomplish this, since the light bounces (the paths that the light takes) through the clouds need to be calculated by the computer. Using this technique, you can also get some really crisp volumetric shadows from other objects in the scene, like in the one above, for example. When that chunk of dirt comes out of the field, the crisp shadow edges on the volumetrics certainly help “sell” the effect.

Overall, this was such a blast! I’m glad everyone seems to like the results. Super, super special thanks to AdhesiveWombat for allowing me to bring his already legendary music a visual counterpart. Please go follow him, etc:

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Chris Reilly New Flight Products, Product Imaging

How Can 3D Special Effects Drive Interest in your Products?

Ever see those fancy, flashy product commercials? You know the ones… the ones with the complex camera movements, colorful backdrops, and a hero shot of the main product? Sometimes the product is floating through the air… sometimes it’s a slow motion shot of the product spinning. They’re almost always produced/ funded by large corporate marketing firms for countless products, from hamburgers to facial cleanser. The animations are attractive, sleek… and most importantly, they attract customers by making them feel a certain way about the product. As a small business owner, you might feel that such animations are completely beyond you. After all, your finances are focused on keeping your business running and serving your customers. But marketing is a huge factor of business success… are these types of product shots really out of reach?

The answer used to be ‘yes’, but not anymore. With advancements in 3D technology, the cost of 3D special effects has become manageable for the average small business owner, and they can do a lot for you and your sales. Take this graphic for example:

This animated demo was produced by us in-house, and has everything you might see in a flashy corporate commercial. 3D effects such as fire, smoke, bubbles, water, and sparks can add a uniquely emotional element to your product, and instantly associate it with a certain feeling. But why is creating a “feeling” so crucial, anyway? Coined by P&G in 2005, the “First Moment of Truth” or “FMOT”, is the first 3 to 7 seconds after a customer encounters a product for the first time. In this situation, there are three steps:

  1. Customer encounters advertising
  2. Customer goes to product location
  3. Customer locates product

A customer will not take steps 2 and 3 unless they are impressed in step 1, and most customers are “low involvement” decision makers. This doesn’t mean that they don’t care about their purchases, but it does mean that they rely more on feeling and emotion than facts or research when purchasing a consumable product. This saves time and resources in a consumer’s busy life. This is called a heuristic: a “short-cut” customers take in decision making. The best way to attract a customer is to deliver that emotional punch right in the beginning: in your marketing. And 3D special effects are a great way to deliver a deep, visceral emotional message.

Here’s another image we produced: a still frame from an animation. Fire is almost as old as humans are, so it invokes a deep, almost “evolutionary” reaction. “Elemental” 3D effects are great for that reason.

Whatever your product is, now you can use the same tactics that the big dogs use in their product images. We’ve provided cost effective effects like the ones featured here for companies just like yours, and we work with you to achieve the perfect results. Want to know what we can do for you? Fill out this quick form! We’ll get back to you with a free quote for your project. It couldn’t hurt to ask, right?

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Chris Reilly New Flight Products, Product Imaging

3D Environment/Product Visualization for Business: Helping your Customers Visualize

When it comes to small businesses that offer specific, custom products and services, few other things can help seal the deal as well as 3D visualization. Your customers need to be able to see what they’re purchasing, and with quantum leaps in 3D rendering technology, business owners can now afford to give their customers a sneak peak of their custom orders before they’re completed. Selling the experience of your product is no easy task, but with tangible, realistic representations of your products, customers are more likely to commit to a purchase. Sometimes, seeing something makes it more real, and can tip the scales in favor of your purchase.

Architects can utilize 3D imagery to demonstrate their capabilities to potential clients

For complex projects, providing a view of a product from multiple angles can also foster an increased understanding of it for potential clients, thereby possibly attracting clients from market segments that may otherwise be out of reach. Let’s suppose you offer lighting setups for concerts and parties. There are entire market segments that do not understand how lighting works, and what options are available to them. Therefore, they may not be fully aware of the options available to them. With 3D visualizations, you would be able to show the customer different lighting setups, fixtures, and methods, and foster an understanding that otherwise would be amiss. You can turn entire market segments into customers by simply showing, not telling.

A visualization of a golf simulator setup, created beforehand for client consideration

With New Flight Digital, you’re never far from achieving your vision for digital media. In an ever-increasingly competitive economy, 3D visualizations can give you the edge needed to succeed. Apply for a free quote on our website here, or simply join our mailing list here. Bring your business to the next level today!

Chris Reilly Commentary, New Flight Products

Why You Should Take Your Business Website to the Next Level with 3D Graphics

In 2020, company websites are not just about delivering information anymore. As interactivity on the web increases through the use of social media, customers have come to expect that same level of interactivity from the websites they frequent. Think of your website as a micro-experience: instead of simply handing your customers a list of office hours, you’re now engaging them and involving them in an experience they’re more likely to remember the next day.

With the advent of WebGL, larger or tech-savvy companies have been quick to take advantage of 3D web graphics. The examples are endless. Here are some of my favorites from this awwwards.com list:

As I described in a previous blog post, I’ve used 3D graphics to bring my website to life and showcase my skills. I want to bring this tool to the people that really need it: small business owners. Sell a hand crafted product? Well, you could always throw a few photos on your website… or… you could use a custom 3D representation of your product that customers can interact with. Since these 3D graphics are created using JavaScript, your 3D graphic can be created with special “smart” rules built in. Let’s suppose you’re an architectural firm and want your front page to display a 3D representation of your latest build. Well, using JavaScript, I could make the scene dependent on the season: if it’s the dead of winter, there could be snow on the roof. The middle of summer: a bright blue sky. Your imagination truly becomes the limit!

Visit me at http://www.newflightdigital.com if you’d like to get your brand rolling with some new 3D graphics.

Chris Reilly Commentary, New Flight Products

3D Printing Workflow for Practical Film Effects

With the advent of 3D printing, practical effects have begun to make quite the comeback. What used to be industry standard has gone from obsolete to a specialized type of work, often sought by directors that want to give their films an “authentic” look. From costumes to sets, 3D printed elements allow for new authenticity in special effects. In a January issue of “3D Artist”, Nathan Crowley, production designer for the movie “First Man”, explained the use of 3D printers in creating spacecraft for the big screen. “We had 18 3D printers in the art department which literally ran 24 hours a day for six months…”, he says. I figured the time had come to give our readers a quick tour of the New Flight Digital 3D printing workflow.

The Ender 3

At the heart of our workflow is the Ender 3, a cost effective 3D printing workhorse with a variety of benefits in the practical effects production area. I use this printer to create small sets that are typically used in custom animation scenarios in which a practical miniature set is needed. I print at a layer height of 0.08 mm. Controlling my printer is a Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint, a free program designed to make printing over a network easy. This allows for easy access to the printer in different physical areas. Temperature and other aspects can be monitored and controlled through the web interface.

LED and RPI

Along with the Ender 3, I have set up a powerful LED lamp connected to a network-controlled relay module. This way, I can turn the light on and off via the relay module’s web app. Also running on the RPI is a webcam stream of the printer for easy visual monitoring remotely.

I have been using this printer often as a “clone” tool for some 3D objects; that is, using photogrammetry, I have been able to print small copies of real-life 3D objects. The process is quite simple, but allows for sets and models of real-world locations to be built for tabletop practical effects.

A large model of a castle is transformed into a miniature
for a small winter scene, and some other small prints.

Russian visual effects company “Scandinava” has been very successful in their usage of physical models and visual effects. Combining the two, the group is able to produce incredible looking visuals that would take insane levels of computing power to recreate digitally otherwise. Check out their Instagram at www.instagram.com/scandinava .

All in all, I am excited for the new year ahead, and all of the great opportunities I will have to continue producing practical effects using 3D printing and other emerging technologies.